How Translators Can Level up Their Copywriting Skills

Modern translation services are more than rewriting content from one language to another — especially in business areas like branding, marketing, or sales.

Translators today are facilitators with multidisciplinary skills that enable them to break language and cultural barriers and effectively communicate brand messages to multilingual audiences.

As brands become aware of how important localization is for reaching global expansion and meeting ambitious business goals, language service providers have evolved to incorporate services like transcreation and multilingual copywriting. This way, they can support their clients in a new era of multilingual communication with personalized messages in more than one language.

Translation vs. Transcreation vs. Multilingual Copywriting — What’s The Difference?

• Translation: The information from the source text is rewritten in the target language. Translators don’t add or omit information, no briefing is involved, and the objective is to keep the meaning intact—the message must be the same. It’s used for legal and financial documents, technical documentation and engineering content, scientific research, and medical translation. The client’s involvement is minimal.
• Transcreation: Creative content is adapted and rewritten into another language to address the desired market and target group. It’s mostly needed for marketing materials, part of global campaigns that speak directly to the local customer without losing sight of the original message. The project starts with a briefing phase in which you provide the original text and information about the creative concept and the intended action you’re seeking to inspire with the copy.
• Multilingual copywriting: Information (usually persuasive messages for advertising or sales pages) is often written from scratch. Local specialists or native speakers rely their creative processes mostly on information on the tone of voice, desired content, and the intended action to inspire with the message — you provide guidelines to ensure the messages comply with the global strategy in a briefing.

Translation processes produce new words in a different language with the same messaging, while transcreation and multilingual copywriting result in whole new messaging, targeted and localized, to meet the expectations of local audiences.

Why go through all this trouble? When translated, marketing and advertising messages created for one audience or target group may be understood by a different segment of people. Still, the chances of generating the same emotions and convincing people to take action on your words are small.

A word-to-word translation diminishes the message's impact. So, more is needed to impact your audience when translating website content, apps, and marketing materials.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” (Nelson Mandela)

Can Translators Be Copywriters?

Translation and copywriting are different disciplines. Both require excellent communication and writing skills, but there’s more to each than meets the eye. Professional translators engage in years of study of the theory, description, and application of translation, interpreting, and localization. Translation studies is an interdisciplinary field that draws heavily from disciplines like terminology, history, philology, linguistics, and comparative literature.

On the other hand, copywriters don’t rely on source texts and need to write without a template. Copywriters typically hold a journalism degree, as similar skills are often necessary to generate engagement.

Copywriting requires creative thinking, interpersonal skills, empathy, problem-solving, and excellent research skills — different from traditional translation jobs.

Translators conduct research around:

• New technology
• Terminology
• Exact word combinations and their usage
• New reliable sources

Copywriters will need to spend time on:

• Market research
• Competitor analysis
• The target audience
• Brand positioning on global and local levels

Last but not least, copywriting implies a great deal more client involvement. Interviews with subject matter experts or end-users might also be necessary to grasp the correct language to speak to the audience.

Translators can be copywriters as long as they’re interested in expanding their skills to tap into a new discipline.

They need to learn to pick up the reader with pinpoint accuracy through deliberately chosen formulations, a skill that requires practice and patience. Copywriting jobs involve back-and-forth emails and multiple revisions of the text before reaching the final version that reaches the public. Creative teams, technical support, and A/B testing are often involved, making copywriting different from the translator’s solo work.

How Translators Can Level up Their Copywriting Skills

Some say that translators are born copywriters, thanks to their ability to deliver a clear message.

And while this could be the perfect start for a new career in multilingual copywriting, additional skills are necessary to help you thrive and turn this activity into a profitable job.

Here are some skills you need to master to improve your conversion rate — make people take action with your well-chosen words.

1) Customer research skills

Customer data is essential to every marketing campaign’s success, as it lets you know your audience’s pain points, individual goals, and priorities. When you know what your customers want and need, crafting the right messages and tap into the right emotions is easier.

Where to start when looking to learn customer research skills:

• How to Do Market Research: The Ultimate Guide by SurveyMonkey
• How to Do Market Research: A Guide and Template by HubSpot
• Cultural Insights and The Ability to Tell The Right Story for All Markets by Leinhäuser Language Services

2) Headline writing

A compelling headline that captures and retains attention can make a piece of content go viral. It’s the first thing a reader sees on the page, and with the right mix of keywords and emotive language, it can directly impact conversion rates— a good headline can help increase conversions by 40%.

Some resources to help you write effective headlines:

• How to Write Better Headlines by HubSpot
• How to Write Headlines That Work by copyblogger
• The Easy A-to-Z Guide to Writing Great Headlines by Content Marketing Institute

3) SEO skills

While no one will expect you to be the subject matter expert on search engine optimization, you still need to develop basic SEO skills to become a successful copywriter. That’s because you’ll often be required to write content that needs a wide distribution online, so you must know how to integrate keywords in your copy to make it easy to find and rank by search engines.

Where to learn about the latest SEO trends:

• SEO Certification Course by HubSpot
• Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals by Google
• Your Free SEO Course to Boost Relevant Traffic by iSEO.works

4) Persuasive writing

Copywriting encourages readers to take action, whether that’s meant to boost brand awareness, generate buzz on social media, or increase sales. Persuasive writing helps you meet these goals and grow your business, in addition to increasing sales for your clients.

Where to start learning persuasive writing:

• 6 Successful Persuasive Writing Strategies by Grammarly
• 14 Persuasive Writing Techniques That Trigger A Response by Conversion Sciences
• 10 Timeless Persuasive Writing Techniques by copyblogger

5) Product research skills

A successful copywriter has the expertise needed to identify how a brand can support the needs of its target market. A skilled copywriter is familiar with a product's specifics and the benefits of its features. And they know what to emphasize to match the audience’s unique interests and specific challenges.

Here are some resources to help you get started:

• Creating Your Product Page by Apple
• 10 Ways to Write Product Descriptions in 2022 by Shopify
• Everything You Need to Know about Writing Product Descriptions by MailChimp

Final Thoughts

Reaching out to customers in international markets doesn’t always involve translating content. Consumers speaking different languages have distinct cultures and identities, so communications must frequently be custom-made.

Multilingual copywriting enables brands to communicate their messages with high-quality texts that appeal to target audiences while maintaining the core message and brand voice intact across multiple languages and cultures.

Copywriting is not necessarily a further development of translation skills. Still, translators who wish to level up their skills to add copywriting services to their current offer have the best chances to be successful in this field. It’s important to remember that this discipline requires its own skills and mindset. Continuous learning and a willingness to think outside the box with empathy are essential to staying relevant and closing the gap between brands and their international clients.